


Reasons

by ShadowsOffense



Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan)
Genre: Gen, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-22
Updated: 2013-08-22
Packaged: 2017-12-24 07:42:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/937337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowsOffense/pseuds/ShadowsOffense
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>People talk.  At one point, they even talked about Alfred.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reasons

“Alfred!”

He hesitated on the busy sidewalk, turning towards the café’s outdoor tables, and a slim smile crept over his face.

“It’s good to see you,” the speaker continued, folding her napkin and rising to her feet. She gestured at her table’s empty seat. “Won’t you join me?”

“I’d be delighted, Miss Dawes.” Alfred waited until she had reseated herself before sitting across from her. “How have you been getting on; I heard you’re thinking about becoming a public attorney after the big graduation this May? You’ve done quite a bit of work there on internships, as I recall.”

As he spoke, a waiter arrived with a second glass of water and a menu, which Alfred accepted with a smile of thanks. Rachel took a sip of her own water and waited for the young man to depart before speaking.

“I need to help fix things, Alfred.” She set her glass down and leaned forward in her chair. “Things in this town have been bad for a long time now and they are getting worse. I can’t bury my head in the sand like everybody else.”

“I have never doubted that you’d make your life a blessing to those around you, Miss Dawes,” he told her sincerely.

She blushed and looked down at the table. “So, how have you been doing, Alfred? People have been talking.”

He raised an eyebrow.

She waved a hand. “Maintaining Wayne Manor the way you have been, now that Bruce has been declared dead. They say you are turning it into a mausoleum.”

His other eyebrow rose. “Ah yes, the romantic but tragic image of one last, lonely servant faithfully maintaining unlit, echoing halls?” A hint of sarcasm crept into his tone.

Rachel shook her head and laughed. “It sounds so trite, doesn’t it? But yes, that’s what they are saying; at least those that don’t consider you a fool for not using the wealth you’ve inherited to join Gotham’s upper class as something more than a steward to the dead.”

“My life is quite opulent enough as it is, thank you.” He took a sip of his water. “That so-called mausoleum is my home after all. Besides, I can’t quite imagine Master Bruce’s face if I sold it before he returns.”

Rachel smiled, but it was a touch strained, and they both pretended to turn their attention to their menus. Alfred took the time to study her subtly, his forehead lined with concern. 

In her way, she was as lost as Master Bruce was, or at least, had been the last time Alfred had seen him. The elder Wayne’s deaths had hurt both children, profoundly. Rachel may not have lost her parents, but she had lost her home, her friend, and two people that loved her dearly. She and Master Bruce both still struggled to repair the missing parts of their hearts.

In Alfred’s opinion, Joe Chill’s death was the best thing that could have happened for Master Bruce. It had let the boy see, in a way words couldn’t explain, how hollow vengeance truly was. Now he could try and fill the whole in his heart with something more substantial. Alfred worried about him, of course, but where ever Bruce was, Alfred had no doubt that he would find something for which it was worth living. Alfred knew his charge would return a very different man than he had been.

But Miss Dawes’ own attempts to fix the city and thereby undo the missing part of herself was no less self-destructive then Master Bruce’s desire for revenge. The cause was good, but she approached as a martyr. She worked for the dead, not the living. It was as if, in blaming the circumstances rather than the killer, her desire to root out Gotham’s poverty and corruption and destroy it utterly was just a different kind of vengeance. She was in danger, as Bruce had been, of turning herself into an empty mausoleum. And the Waynes deserved a better memorial than that.


End file.
